{"id":239999,"date":"2023-07-24T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T11:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=239999"},"modified":"2023-07-23T09:31:20","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T08:31:20","slug":"latin-america-again-refuses-to-fall-in-line-with-the-collective-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/07\/latin-america-again-refuses-to-fall-in-line-with-the-collective-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Latin America again Refuses to Fall in Line with the Collective West"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another attempt by the Collective West to isolate Russia from the rest of the world \u2014 or the \u201cJungle,\u201d as the EU\u2019s chief \u201cdiplomat\u201d Josep Borrell calls it \u2014 fails spectacularly.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

21 Jul 2023 –<\/em> Volodymyr Zelensky is accustomed to being the star guest, whether in person or on-screen, at just about every Western international summit, though his shine does appear to be fading. But at the summit that took place in Brussels early this week between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the president of Ukraine was nowhere to be seen. This was despite the best efforts of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is current holder of the EU Council\u2019s rotating president, to get his name on the guest list.<\/p>\n

At a bare minimum, Zelensky\u2019s participation would have required the endorsement of the governments of Latin America\u2019s three largest economies, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, all of which have taken a largely neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. Which is why it came as little surprise that the EU\u2019s dogged attempts, not just during the two days of the summit but in the preceding weeks, to include in the final declaration a paragraph condemning Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine also come to nothing. The move faced opposition from a host of CELAC members including Brazil, Bolivia, Honduras, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.<\/p>\n

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Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva and Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on 17 Jul 2023.\u00a0 Simon Wohlfahrt\/Bloomberg<\/p><\/div>\n

Another Failure by Collective West<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once again, an attempt by the Collective West to isolate Russia from the rest of the world \u2014 the so-called \u201cJungle,\u201d as the EU\u2019s chief \u201cdiplomat\u201d Josep Borrell calls it<\/a> \u2014 has failed. From AP<\/a>:<\/p>\n

European Union<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Latin American leaders<\/a><\/span>\u00a0concluded a summit that was supposed to be a love-in after eight years of separation, but instead ended Tuesday with aggravation over the failure to unanimously support even a bland statement on\u00a0Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s fervent support of Ukraine clashed with the more distant or neutral approach pervasive in the 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. What should have been a mere detail in a landmark summit celebrating economic ties and fresh investment became its encompassing theme.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the end, the heavily diluted paragraph<\/a> (#15) not only did not mention Russia but merely expressed \u201cdeep concern\u201d about \u2014 as opposed to \u201ccondemnation\u201d of \u2014 the \u201congoing war\u2026, which continues to cause immense human suffering and is exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy, constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity and elevating financial stability risks.\u201d And even then, Nicaragua, a close ally of Russia, refused to join the 59 other nations, including Cuba and Venezuela, in signing the statement.<\/p>\n

In his closing statement at the Summit of the Peoples, a parallel event taking place in Brussels, Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, which will be hosting the next EU-CELAC summit, in 2025, pilloried<\/a>\u00a0the EU\u2019s obsession with the war in Ukraine, which he described as \u201ca far-removed issue\u201d for Latin America and the Caribbean:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EU has basically focused on a topic that was of fundamental interest to itself, but which is far-removed for us: the war in Ukraine. [It wanted] to point to the construction of a block in the world, Latin America and the European Union, coalescing around Zelensky and support for a political, economic and military strategy, obviously. That was its priority.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The President of Brazil Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva also blasted the EU\u2019s position on the conflict and lamented that \u201cresources that are essential for the economy and social programs\u201d are being channelled toward sustaining the war in Ukraine. He also suggested that both the EU and US sanctions against Russia contravene international law:<\/p>\n

\u201cBrazil supports all the initiatives proposed by the different countries and regions, demands a ceasefire, an end to hostilities and a negotiated peace. Using sanctions and blockades without the support of international law is something that merely serves to punish the most vulnerable segments of the populace.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No Signs of Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the beginning of this year, in his first month back in office, Lula laid out<\/a> his government\u2019s core positions on the NATO-Russia proxy in a phone conversation with Macron:<\/p>\n